good friday morning, everyone. i'm poppy harlow. >> and i'm jim sciutto. listen to this because it's real. what happens when the president tries to undercut democracy, overturn the results of an election, which you voted in? you arm people with the facts because while the president and his allies claimed fraud and tout conspiracy theories, the numbers don't lie. like this one.

150,000, the number of votes that biden beat trump by in the state of michigan. still the president has invited republican lawmakers from the state to the white house today in his bid ongoing to overturn the results in that state and other states. your votes. >> two republican senators publicly overnight opposing the president's actions, mitt romney calling it undemocratic, ben sass also weighing in. where are the others? we'll see the president a few hours from now at a time when the nation needs leadership more than ever. while he's holding up this presidential transition, thousands of americans are dying from covid as it surges and this country needs a smooth handover to ensure the smooth distribution of the key vaccines that we all so desperately need. let's begin with joe johns at the white house on this

invitation by the president to michigan state lawmakers for what? >> reporter: the bottom line is it's pretty clear that the president is in desperation mode right now, this is the hail mary pass to try to get the michigan and other battleground state legislatures to move in, overturn the popular vote and pretty much name electors that wouldn't otherwise have been sent to washington in the electoral college, and it doesn't sound like it's going to work, quite frankly. in fact, we do know that the president has invited the michigan speaker of the house as well as the michigan republican majority leader of the senate in the legislature there, here to washington, d.c., not clear at all that the speaker is coming, he sent word on cnn this morning that he had not confirmed for the meeting, but it's a different story for the senate

majority leader of the michigan legislature, his name is mike shirkey, and there is every indication that he is on his way here. this is video on social media of him apparent lit ly at the airp but it's not clear at all that's going to do what the president wants him to do. in fact, he's made it quite clear in a recent interview that he has no intention of overturning the election in michigan and his office has put out word, in fact, that there's no provision in michigan law for electors to be named other than those who would vote for the person who won the popular vote in their state, and i think it's also important to say that this is the kind of situation that really doesn't fly for any of the battleground states. the most interesting thing about this, of course, is if they ele

michigan, it's not just for the president of the united states, it's for everyone who ran. >> the ballots in which the republicans won seats in the house, retained senate seats, same ballots, same election. joe johns, thanks very much. joining me now is the vice chairman for the wayne county board of canvassers, jonathan kelaquinn, includes the city of detroit. thank you for taking time this morning. >> good morning and thank you for inviting me. >> i want to ask you first if you could give myself and our viewers a view inside that raucous meeting earlier this week in which some of your colleagues, two of them republicans, flipped and flopped and refused to recognize the results of this election. >> yes, so this past tuesday, the wayne county board of canvassers met to certify the election. at the meeting a motion was made

to certify the results and the two democrats, we voted to certify as we have in all the other elections and the two republicans basically voted no on the first vote. we then proceeded with public comment, and the citizens called in, well over 300 to 500 individuals called in, and just railed on those republican members for trying to disenfranchise the votes, voters within wayne county. but more specifically, the chair of the board suggested by asking for us to entertain a motion to certify the election without the city of detroit votes. that caused a very strong response from myself, and my other democratic colleague, and the citizens, with enthey hadwhd

an opportunity to speak, they let it be known it would not be tolerated. it was amazing to hear the speakers and the residents basically lay into those republicans. >> now, they did eventually vote to certify but then claimed they were rescinding those votes. does that claim, that effort hold any water legally? >> not at all, because here in michigan, we have 14 days to certify the election, and certifying the election also needs to be noted that it isn't a discretionary role that boards of canvassers, whether it's the county, or the state, it's not discretionary. it is mandatory. the state law says that we shall certify, and so all of the comments and all of the lies that have been put out there surrounding what occurred throughout the election process has no bearing in whether or not

the election will be certified. so we then voted on a subsequent motion. they agreed with the understanding that we would ask the secretary of state to conduct an audit in those precincts that had unexplained out of balance precincts, and so -- >> right. >> -- it was just amazing to think that they could even repeal or change or even address it at this point. the conversation -- no conversations may be held that the time regarding anything with that election. it's over. it's done for. >> so that's over at that step. the president has not given up and he's invited lawmakers from michigan to the white house, our understand something at least one is going there. for folks at home watching this and are concerned about the integrity of a presidential election, can they be confident, based on the law and the processes in the state of michigan, that the votes will win out here, or that the president can overturn this?

>> we've had the senate majority leader, i believe it was either earlier this week or last week, stated that he did not have the appetite to go down this path. on monday, the state board of canvassers will be meeting. they will be considering the certification and the reports received from the various county board of canvassers, and it is my thought that in the end, the election will be certified. more specifically, in michigan, the election will be certified because if those board members do not certify, and in that instance you may go to the courts and get a writ of mandamus. we're talking about a lame duck president and i do not think anyone wants to revisit what occurred in 2016 by being a coconspirator to any campaign that's trying to disenfranchise

or basically hijack the votes in this election. >> well, we'll be watching. it's important and we appreciate people like you, democrats and republicans, frankly, in this country, who continue to do their jobs without political bias. jonathan kinloch, thanks very much. >> thank you. president-elect joe biden, and he is the president-elect, is unleashing some of his strongest comments yet about president trump and his efforts against the election. >> let's go to jessica dean, following the biden team, the transition as they're attempting to make in delaware, good morning, jess. talk to us about the change in tune and why now. >> reporter: good morning to both of you. president-elect biden holding a press conference after the bipartisan meeting with governors and he talked and answered a lot about the transition, and what he thinks of president trump's behavior, and it was interesting, guys. i was in the room, to see his

whole demeanor switched. he really was choosing his words very carefully, really thinking on this, and we really heard some of his strongest words yet about what the delay in transition is doing not just to what they're trying to do, but to american democracy. take a listen. >> i think they're witnessing incredible irresponsibility, incredibly damaging messages being sent to the rest of the world about how democracy functions. >> reporter: again, making the assertion that this is even bigger than simply and not a simple process, this is about american democracy as a whole, the fundamental peaceful transition of power. so that's a little bit of what we're hearing from biden. he did say all options remain on the table in terms of forcing this transition forward, but he was clear to say he doesn't really want to pursue legal action, even though it remains

an option that he'd much more prefer to bring republicans over to his side, to acknowledge that's the winner and help him begin this transition process, put pressure on the president, and his allies to begin this process. jim and poppy? >> it's important to get everyone on the same page here. thanks, jessica. have a good weekend. appreciate the reporting. coming up, the cdc now a very clear message to americans, do not travel, they say, for thanksgiving, as experts warn of a brutal few weeks ahead. and her job is to help protect people like you and me from this pandemic, but one county health director says that threats against her and her children and their lives are forcing her to quit. today is her last day, we're going to speak to her just ahead. you'll want to hear it. plus, just two republican senators, two have publicly aopposed the president's ongoing attacks on a free and fair democratic election, but is there really any viable path in

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exactly right. this thanksgiving will look a lot different for some families, and families here in illinois and across the country are having those tough conversations with their loved ones. listen, it's really a tale of two stories. on the vaccine front, some promising news, it looks like we're steps closer to getting that shot in the arm, that could turn things around, but this also comes at the same time we are entering a troubling phase of this pandemic. you guys just shared those numbers yesterday, the u.s. reported some of the highest numbers since the start of the pandemic, nearly 188,000 new cases, also breaking records the number of deaths, nearly 2,000 families had to say good-bye to someone they love. that's because 2,000 people died. governors across the state are making moves, governors are trying to do all they can to slow the spread of this virus. in california, gavin newsom

announced a curfew that will go into effect at 10:00 p.m. starting on saturday, and here in illinois, big changes coming. for example, casinos, movie theaters, banquet halls all shutting down. retail spaces as well as grocery stores will operate at reduced capacity, and there's been mixed emotion. health care workers we heard from appreciate the changes, by contrast, jim and poppy, some business owners say this change will hurt their businesses, and of course, right before the holiday shopping season, this is a time they were depending on those sales. jim and poppy? >> of course they were. support your local businesses, as much as you can. adrienne, thank you for the reporting out of chicago. this morning, more than 2,400 people across new jersey are in the hospital with covid, that is the most they've had in that state since june. the positivity rate is approaching 12%, statewide the

governor is begging, pleading with residents to be vigilant. >> there's a lot of fatigue. there's a lot of transmission in private settings. we've got the holidays before us. we are pleading with people to not let their guard down, to stay strong. this virus is dying for us literally to let our guard down. we've got to do everything we can to push back at that. >> with us is judith persichilli, the commissioner of the new jersey department of health. thank you, commissioner, for being here this morning. we heard from the governor making it very clear that it looks like in the coming days there will be new and more restrictions in new jersey to get these numbers down. what will they be? >> i don't think that's particularly been decided yet. what we're looking at is just a vaccine. we're identifying through our contact tracing methodology where we're seeing the majority of the outbreaks. we've developed hot spot teams to be going out to those

counties that have significant cases per 100,000, and positivity rates, and we're looking at just about everything. we're asking people and we know this to be true, that social gatherings are where most of our outbreaks are occurring. >> yep. >> so we are asking people to be extremely careful about that. >> and you know, it's not for that much longer. we're talking about a matter of months until it sounds like these vaccines will be widely available, but the big concern, one of the big concerns is distribution across states. can you tell us to the best of your knowledge how many of the vaccines new jersey's going to get in the first round and have you decided who is going to get them first? right? who do you deem an essential worker? >> sure. well we're expecting hopefully by the third week in december to get about 130,000 doses of the

pfizer vaccine, and that will be followed by another 130,000, perhaps two weeks later. so that's 260,000, and concurrent with that, we're hoping that moderna sneaks in with 100,000 and that will be 100,000 two weeks apart, so we're planning for over 400,000 doses to be delivered to new jersey through to the end of december, the beginning of january. we're following the cdc playbook in terms of the prioritization, and the first tranche will go to paid and unpaid health care workers who have the potential for exposure to patients and/or infectious material. we have a professional advisory committee that is working through that prioritization. >> okay. >> to identify what actually gets it first. >> so 400,000 doses, that means

about 200,000 people but you've got a lot of health care workers in the state, and i was so struck, commissioner, when you told "60 minutes" just a few weeks ago that in your survey, only 60% of physicians and 40% of nurses were willing then to take the vaccine. i wonder if that's changed now, that these fantastic efficacy numbers for both moderna and pfizer's vaccine have come out? >> we're seeing a lot of enthusiasm about the vaccine, particularly amongst health care individuals like nurses and physicians. that survey was done mid-october, when we knew much less than what we know right now, but the excitement about the vaccine now is pretty significant. i'm getting calls every day from groups that are saying, can i be in 1a. >> of course. >> i'm going to suggest. >> that's good news. it worried me to hear so few doctors and nurses wanted to

take this in your state. let me just get your reaction to this. i want to you listen to an icu nurse in the state of minnesota, also head of the nurse's association there, she was with the president-elect joe biden this week. let me play the tape. >> i myself have held the hand of dying patients who are crying out for their families that they can't see. i've taken care of co-workers as they fight for their lives on a ventilator, and knowing that they got sick because of the hospital or their government hasn't protected them. sorry i'm so emotional. it's just -- >> you got me emotional. >> you're a commissioner, yes, but also a registered nurse. what do you think when you hear that? >> it's painful. i'm a former icu nurse. it's been quite some time before i've been on the front line like

that nurse shared, and it's painful to hear. our goal here at the department of health along with our hospitals is to make sure that everyone has the protective equipment they need to take care of the patients that are presenting in our hospitals, and we have stockpiled ppe, unlike march and april. we believe we have the backup to protect the front line workers, and that is a very -- that tape was very painful to me. >> yes, breaks your heart there, the true heroes for sure. commissioner persichilli, good luck and thank you. >> thank you so much. >> jim? a source telling cnn that the michigan house speaker is going to the white house today as the president continues his bid to overturn, you heard me right, to overturn the results of the presidential election. look at this human trying to get in shape.

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it's hard to believe but despite zero proof and dozens of dismissed court cases, the president is still trying to say that there is a way that he won this election and essentially trying to steal a fair election. >> the facts aren't with him, neither is the law. his plan convince republican state legislatures to change some electoral college laws so they can vote in effect to overrule the popular vote so he can stay in office. at least two senate republicans just two at this point, mitt romney and ben sasse are issuing

strong rebukes of the president's effort. the rest of the party is largely silent. mr. ginsburg, always good to have you on this program. >> thank you, good to be here. >> it's probably hard for folks at home to follow this, it's certainly hard for me, too, the changing steps in the president's strategy here. so if we want to call the court step one, he's basically failed there. the courts have broadly rejected his efforts in multiple states. now we're on to a next step of the president trying to delay or block certification of votes and then maybe go to state legislature legislatures to overturn the results. does he legally have a path there? >> no is the answer. you all mentioned he doesn't have the facts and he doesn't have the law and lawyers always believe if you don't have the facts and don't have the law,

then you pound the table and the delay of certification is sort of the pounding of the table. it doesn't have a clear path. it's against all the traditions of the country. it reminds me actually of the way he was during the covid pandemic, with hydroxychloroquine, which i just pronounced wrong. it was like a miracle cure that at the end of the day, everyone got excited about for a couple of weeks and then it failed. and that's kind of where he is with the certification process. >> good comparison. >> on top of it, jim always does a good job of reminding us that the ballots it's like the whole ballot they're trying to not certify which includes republicans re-winning their seats and that's a point, ben, you think shouldn't go missed here, right? it's a peripheral effect of what they're asking for here. >> no. well it's not even a peripheral effect, poppy. the reality is that if you claim

widespread fraud in the presidential election, that means there was widespread fraud in everything down the ballot. so those races would have to be re-won, and the same problem if they hold up the certification in the states, you don't just hold up the certification for one race like the presidency. that means there are no certified members of any of the state legislators and those are the folks who he's looking to help with the certifications. >> mr. ginsburg, the law as you note and you know better than us is on the side of fairness in this election and the election standing. the sad fact is, we in this country have seen the law flouted in the last several years and i wonder, do we necessary have confidence? we have a state legislator from michigan visiting the president today. he says he's visiting out of respect but i mean we had members of the county board of

canvassers try to flip their votes, certifying results as is required, right, in effect ignoring the law. should we have confidence that the law will be followed here? >> well, i think we should have confidence. look, one of the things that has stood up throughout this process is the basic institutions of elections. yes, there have been some acts that should not have taken place, like the wayne county canvassing board, but then again, you should look at the state of georgia, which has republicans in the offices responsible for running the election, goodness knows they have come over, come under incredible criticism, yet they're going to certify their results today. it looks like it's a pro forma case and attempt to block the certification in the georgia court yesterday, got tossed on its head by a trump appointed judge, so the strategy is

creating a lot of noise, and a lot of discomfort and trauma for us, but at the end of the day, i think our institutions are holding, and this is going to work, and we need to look at this in a month or so. >> finally, the words are notable from senator mitt romney, republican calling it undemocratic, about the most undemocratic thing possible, and republican senator ben sasse saying we're a nation of laws, not tweets. talk is one thing and by the way, where is the talk from the other republican colleagues of theirs? what about action? is there anything republicans in congress can do? >> there really is nothing at this stage under the laws. we give the states the responsibility for carrying out elections, and so what congress can do right now is talk about the issue, but that sort of

getting hung up in letting the president have his say in the state courts, which every candidate can do, and if he fails as spectacularly as he's failed so far and appears to be continuing to fail, then that means he's run out the strings, not been able to prove fraud. he's not been able to prove many of the allegations that's made, and that provides a certain finality to the process, if he does get his procedural rights to play out the contest and recounts. >> ben ginsberg, always good to have your experience and your calm voice on this broadcast. >> thank you. >> nice to see you. thanks. well, as the coronavirus rages, local health officials are facing frightening harassment for trying simply to enact safety measures to save lives. ahead we're going to speak with one official in missouri who says she's resigning today because the threats to her and her family have become simply too much.

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the governor governor of missouri mike parson extended his state's emergency order through march of 2021. the republican governor warning residents about a spike in new infections while doubling down on his opposition to a statewide mask mandate, passing the buck down to officials at the local level. this as the health department director in st. francis county has stepped down. why? because of public threats and harassment in response to her calls for people to take the simple steps of social distancing and wearing masks. amber elliott saying and i'm quoting "i get threatening messages from people saying they're watching me. they followed my family to the

park and took pictures of my kids. i know it's my job to be out front talking about the importance of public health, educating people, keeping them safe. now it kind of scares me." amber elliott joins me now on her last day, we should note as director of the st. francis county health center in missouri. thanks so much for joining this morning. >> thank you, jim, for having me. >> listen, i hear those threats to you and your children. it's just gutting to hear you had to go through that. i wonder, you faced this for some time. what was the final straw? >> yes, i've heard a lot of implied threats or harassment over the past eight months. it's more directed towards me, and i think that is a little more easy to accept, but i think when people start photographing my family in public, i have to ask myself the question of you know, is this really worth it, and i have two little kids and

at this point, i think their safety really is the highest importance for me, and so got to make a hard decision. >> i get it. you noted to me that you're actually the 12th health official in the state to step down. >> yes. >> this is a statewide problem, these threats. that's remarkable to hear. >> um-hum. yes, and i think it's probably not just singular to missouri. i read stories about health directors across the country who are receiving threats or harassment and yes, i'm the 12th one out of all of the county health departments in our state, which is about 114, 115, and so it's significant, and we're losing public health professionals because of this. >> it's a sad fact that the president and many of his allies have amplified attacks, not just on measures such as wearing a

mask, but also individuals and state leaders and health officials carrying out those acts or making those recommendations. i wonder, who do you hold responsible for this climate of threats? >> you know, i think it does kind of come back to individuals. i mean, i think we all should be able to treat each other with respect, even when we have differences of opinions, because that's normal. that's a normal part of our world, and what we do, but you can treat people with respect and professionalism and caring and kindness without becoming really nasty and personal attacks, involving people's families, when they're just trying to do their job. >> listen, there's no reason, let's be clear, there's no reason you or your family should have to face this. >> no. >> there's another to this of denial of the facts of a deadly pandemic. you write "i know in my heart these are good people but it's like we're living on different planets.

i have people in my own family who believe covid is a conspiracy and our doctors are getting paid off." that's got to be disheartening for you as a health care worker, trying to help these very same people. is there any way through to them or are these bubbles impermeable? >> you know, i don't know. i have thought about this a lot about how we can fight misinformation, because i feel like that's been one of our really our biggest hurdle in this is that every time you think this has been debunked, people just refuse to believe the truth at hand and i think it's really hard to fight misinformation when people do have a distrust in government or the cdc and it's hard to fight misinformation when they won't believe the facts. >> yes. what do you want to hear from the nation's leaders? we have a president-elect who will take office january 20th,

to health care workers who are still facing these kinds of things but also to people who are making them, right, the divisive environment you're describing there. what message do you think would make a difference? >> you know, i think we all need to hear the realization and really hear it about what is happening across the country, especially to, you know, public health professionals and more importantly probably our front line health care workers that are exhausted on the front lines. they've been fighting this since march, and in missouri we're seeing a huge spike and i think they need to hear support. i think they need to hear a solid plan for going forward and again, knowing how exhausted they are, and they need the support of their community and they need to know this is real, and we have the power in the community, this is a public health problem and it is a community solution, and so we need our communities to back us.

>> a shared solution, right, a shared crisis, a shared solution. amber elliott, we are sorry and i'm sure folks watching right now are sorry that you and your family have to go through this. we wish you luck. we wish you safety. >> thank you. i appreciate it. thanks, jim. >> poppy? >> wow, unbelievable she has to go through that. good for her for speaking out. ahead, new details on the long running fraud investigations into the trump organization and new phase of the probe. what's the name agai? >>it's shiori. what? >>shi - or - i adam, emily and then... s-uh um... >>it's shiori. sh-ori. thank you, that's great. shiori (in japanese) there you go. >>yeah. (in japanese) wow, it looks beautiful! >>(in japanese) really?! i really like it.

let's be honest. quitting smoking is hard. like, quitting every monday hard. quitting feels so big. so try making it smaller, and you'll be surprised at how easily starting small can lead to something big. start stopping with nicorette. starting small can lead to something big. just it just takes a lothat's happeninof the burdener body, of diabetes management off my shoulders. i can see arrows trending up, trending sideways, trending down and that tells me what kind of care she'd going to need in the next few minutes. when she went to argentina i didn't have to freak out but i did a tiny bit, still. it's really hard for a mom to prick her 2-year-old's finger. so having no fingerpricks makes me a very happy mama.

welcome back. sources tell cnn that

investigators right here in new york have now expanded their probe into the trump organization to include tax writeoffs including millions of dollars in so called consulting fees. >> cara has been fall following this. this is key because ivanka trump involved, in effect, these were writing off consulting fees paid within the family as tax write offs? >> yeah, jim that's right. this is the first time we're seeing ivanka trump's name surface in the investigation. and sources tell cnn they've widened the investigation to include millions of dollars of tax write-offs the president has taken on his returns with these so-called consulting fees. there's two investigations here, one by the district attorney's office looking into areas including possible tax fraud, insurance fraud, there's also a civil investigation by the new york attorney general.

that investigation is looking into whether the president and the trump organization defrauded lenders and tax authorities by inflating the value of certain assets. subpoenas were sent by both agencies to the trump organization in recent weeks. this came to light because of a new york times investigation into the president's taxes where they revealed the president had taken $26 million in tax write offs from fees paid to these so-called consultants. according to the times, one of the consultants appeared to be a company controlled by ivanka trump. she received $747,000 from the trump organization at the same time that she was an employee. this is what has raised questions among investigators. a lawyer for the trump organization issued a statement to "the new york times" he said everything was done in strict compliance with the law and

under advise of tax experts. he also heard from ivanka trump who rarely responds to these things she tweeted last night saying this is harassment pure and simple. these investigations have been under way for more than a year. the manhattan district attorney's office has been under a protracted fight with the president for his tax returns. >> we'll see where it goes in court where the facts matter. thanks. now to a move by steve mnuchin as countless american businesses struggle to make ends meet in the ongoing pandemic. >> that's right. this happened overnight, steve mnuchin decided to pull the plug to end the lending program designed to keep the businesses open. this as the federal reserve chairman, jerome powell is issuing a rare and sharp rebuke of the move. let's go to matt eagan for more. if you can explain in the most

basic terms why this matters to main street. >> it matters to main street because the federal reserve only has so much ammo to fight the crisis. and the crisis is getting worse. we know the coronavirus infections have never been higher. we know that statewide curfews are back in places like california. and the economy is weakening. it might even be shrinking. that's why this is a weird time to take away some of the ammo that the fed is using. the fed even put out a statement last night opposing this move saying they prefer the funds stayed in place because these programs are an important backstop to the economy. it is unusual to see the fed and the treasury department disagreeing publicly in the middle of a crisis, no less. as far as why they're doing this, treasury is correct in that some of the money hasn't been used, at least not yet. treasury secretary steve mnuchin was on cnbc this morning and

said, listen, congress can use the money to help the economy. he's right, they could do that. but we know that congress, they can't agree who's going to be sworn in as the next president on january 20th have been haven't agreed on a fiscal stimulus package. but i have to read you an interesting statement put out by the normally republican friendly chamber of commerce. they warn that this move would prematurely and unnecessarily tie the hands of the incoming administration, closing the door on options, businesses at a time when they need it most. this appears to be another troubling step in what can only be described as a debacle of a transition so far. >> yep. yep. and if the fed had the fun, the businesses could get it. now it's up to congress to agree on something to get it to them. matt, thank you for explaining it to us. >> thank you.

as matt said the cases are soaring, dr. sanjay gupta sat down for an exclusive one on one interview with dr. deborah birx. you're hear their conversation next. just a side dish anymore. always look for the grown in idaho seal. the annual enrollment period is here. the time to choose your coverage... begins october 15th and ends december 7th. so call unitedhealthcare... and take advantage of a wide choice of plans... including an aarp medicare advantage plan from unitedhealthcare. it can combine your hospital and doctor coverage... with part d prescription drug coverage, and more, all in one simple plan... for a low monthly premium or in some areas, no plan premium at all. take advantage of $0 copays on all primary care doctor visits, all virtual visits, and all lab tests.

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good friday morning to you, i'm jim sciutto. >> i'm poppy harlow. democracy is, rest assured, moving forward even as the president tries to move it back. georgia is expected to certify joe biden's victory in that state, a blow to president trump's ongoing efforts to overturn the election. this comes on the same day the president will meet with the michigan house speaker in the white house. as the president is trying to find any way to overturn the